


Just another Curse to the list

by Chookers38



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen, Mention of blood, Pain, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29237970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chookers38/pseuds/Chookers38
Summary: Killian Jones knew he was bound to be cursed. So really, he shouldn’t have been that surprised to discover he’d been cursed anew.
Kudos: 4





	Just another Curse to the list

Killian Jones knew he was bound to be cursed. It had started when he was only a wee lad, with his beloved mother, then his coward of father had abandoned him and Liam. After a few years of respite, his brother died, only to be followed by his Milah. And when he could have finally had his revenge on the vile crocodile that caused him so much pain, he found himself crossing the path of that bloody witch. Though, meeting Gothel had brought him happiness and his new light in his life: his Alice. Yet he should have known that his renewed peace and happiness wouldn’t last forever. His little girl was still trapped and the day he could have freed her forever and left the damn tower with her by his side, he became cursed because of his own stupid pride. Now he was back to being lonely, separated from his child with a cursed and broken heart, with no immediate way to save his daughter or himself.  
  


So really, he shouldn’t have been that surprised to discover he’d been cursed anew a few years later.

He still doesn’t know who could have cast it or for what reason. But it was done and now he was forced to live with it. He’d heard about were-human stories and legends, most common being the good old werewolf. Bothering you only once a month, giving you more stamina and well _more_ of everything, and with the years that had began to show on his body, that would have done him good. Then there was the case of Davy Jones. Legends said he looked like he was made of different fish species but mostly described as some kind of were-octopus-ish. _Definitely less appealing_. Of course, there still was the bloodsucker but they didn’t exactly fitted in the “were-” section, right?

And in all those stories about some dashing and almost interesting “were-”, he had to end up with _that_ one.

He remembered the first time he’d changed like it was yesterday. He had been quite drunk, trying yet again to drown his misery at the bottom of his bottle of rum, making his way to his lonely and secret cove, when he had fallen into the icy sea. The cold and salted water had cleared his mind, allowing him to hastily climb back on dry land to avoid drowning, only to succumb to uncontrollable shaking as soon as a cold shiver ran down his spine. The ground had felt like it moved under his feet, making him collapse ungracefully, his skin itching before he felt his skull was about to explode under the sudden pressure. He remembered the way the skin around his jaw had hurt, feeling like it broke apart as the rest of his body was stretched, torn apart, every bone and muscle screaming in pain while he managed to contain his pleads and whimpers to himself by some kind of miracle. His eyes had long since shut close, the sound of fabric ripping echoing inside his ears -many months after, Killian could still feel every ounce of the agony he had been under that awful day- and once the pain had stopped, he had knew something was different before he’d even opened his eyes, left to deal with the shock of the new view of his surroundings, and the inspection of his new form.

The tail and snout, that he could live with it. It only required a few adjustments in his way of walking and occasional changes of balance. But the grey-almost-white scales that were now fully covering his body? Let’s just say that he had scratched at it like a mad man, wanting to get rid of them. But it was impossible -deep down he had _known_ it- and only had resulted in a bloody mess and a mix of pain and frustration.

How ironic it was: to chase his own crocodile... only to become one.

One of the extremely rare perks of being a were-crocodile was that at least his belly had somehow shrunk, giving him a more suitable shape than the one he had earned due to the self-pity, malnourishment and age. Though he had to pay the price of that new stature, mourning his worn out leather duster that now was severely cracked on each shoulder, his leather pants adjusted relatively well to the added musculature. Night vision, now that was quite interesting. And it was something that he’d somehow kept even if he wasn’t in his cursed form. It at least allowed him to roam the dark streets when he couldn’t find sleep, without being surprised by some bloody scavengers interested in his sorry ass. He might be old and lonely but he wasn't defenseless and had not yet given up on life.

Now it took him a few more shots to understand how the damn curse worked. But he discovered it was triggered as soon as he was in contact with salted water and could only return to his human appearance once the salt was gone and he was completely dried. Which could take quite some time, unlike what most people thought. The day he was caught by a storm while he was outside, he surprised himself feeling almost relieved not to be captain of the Jolly. What image would he have given, shifting into a beast in the middle of a storm? While unsalted water didn’t trigger anything major, as soon as he was wet, his skin was slowly became covered with unscattered scales, much to his distaste. It was the least to say bathing became less and less frequent.

In the end, it was just one more obstacle on his road. One more curse he’d have to learn to live with until he could find a cure to save him from it all. One more reason to find True Love...

Yet in his decades of searching for the cure, he did find one little bright side. He stumbled on an ancient talisman in an old and falling into ruins house, that soon became attached to his necklace as it helped him stop the shift even if he was touched by salt water.

Which saved him some trouble later, like when he’d helped the lad, Henry, to find a gift for his love as their little adventure had been quite wet.


End file.
